Xconomy: San Diego-based Genomatica is announcing today it has raised $15 million in a Series C venture round led by a new investor, TPG Biotech, to build a demonstration plant to make a common industrial chemical through a renewable technique, and to develop a bigger pipeline of other petrochemical alternatives.

Office of the Governor: Building on his commitment to clean technology growth in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed SB 71 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) to create a sales tax exemption for the purchase of green tech manufacturing equipment in California.

Kauffman Foundation: For the first time, the entrepreneurial performance of postdoctoral researchers in the scientific community is being formally honored and celebrated. Dr. Stephen W. Turner, chief technology officer of Pacific Biosciences, has been named the 2010 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur, and Dr. Antonio R. Webb, co-founder, senior scientist, and lead development engineer of VesselTek, has been named the 2010 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur. Dr. Turner received a $10,000 honorarium, and Dr. Webb received a $2,500 honorarium.